“To be successful with algebra, students must be able to shift their focus from the numbers themselves to reasoning about the operations on those numbers… students need targeted supports if they are to successfully cross the bridge from arithmetic to algebra.”
— June Mark, E. Paul Goldenberg, Mary Fries, Jane M. Kang, and Tracy Cordner, authors of the Transition to Algebra series

Support your struggling algebra students with EDC's research-based Transition to Algebra

Many students struggle with algebra. Many students need to retake Algebra 1 multiple times just to pass. Even if they pass, many students are unable to think algebraically, lack mathematical strategies, and lack confidence as mathematicians.

Think about your algebra students. How many are highly successful? How many...

struggle to pass and will require intervention and remediation?

pass but won't move on to more advanced math?

pass but will continue to struggle with advanced math?

Developed by Education Development Center (EDC), Transition to Algebra is a classroom resource that approaches algebra instruction differently. Instead of reteaching the same algebra curriculum in the same way to struggling students, Transition to Algebra uses logic puzzles, problems, and explorations to help teachers uniquely build students' mathematical ways of thinking. It invites students to experience the coherence and meaning of mathematics-perhaps for the first time.

Transition to Algebra Units

Unit 1: Language of Algebra

Unit 2: Geography of the Number Line

Unit 3: Micro-Geography of the Number Line

Unit 4: Area and Multiplication

Unit 5: Logic of Algebra

Unit 6: Geography of the Coordinate Plane

Unit 7: Thinking Things Through Thoroughly

Unit 8: Logic of Fractions

Unit 9: Points, Slopes, and Lines

Unit 10: Area Model Factoring

Unit 11: Exponents

Unit 12: Algebraic Habits of Mind

RELATED RESOURCES

In Making Sense of Algebra, the Transition to Algebra author team debunks the common misconception that algebra is simply a collection of rules to know and follow by delving into how we think about mathematics. This “habits of mind” approach is concerned not just with the results of mathematical thinking, but with how mathematically proficient students do that thinking.